Diameter-dependent electrical transport properties of bismuth nanowire arrays

Single-crystalline bismuth nanowire arrays with different diameters were fabricated within porous anodic alumina membranes with the same pore size using the pulsed electro-deposition technique. X-ray diffraction measurements show that the as-synthesized nanowires have a highly preferential orientation. Scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy analyses indicate that bismuth nanowire arrays are high filling, ordered and single-crystalline. Electrical resistance measurements show that the bismuth nanowires have a metal-semiconductor transition when the diameters decrease from 90 to 50 nm, and the resistance behaviors are explained on the basis of the quantum confinement effect and Matthiessen's rule. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.